Illinois State Approved Sessions

This important plenary session will set the stage for the Annual Spring Meeting by discussing the economic, scientific and behavioral influences that will, at least in part, shape the restructuring landscape in the coming year. Led by a major international media organization, the panel discussion will include leaders from key constituent groups in the restructuring arena, including law firms, investment bankers, lenders and other financial leaders. The panelists will focus on macroeconomic predictions for 2021, industry expectations and risks, and how the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines will impact the economy in 2021 and beyond.

"Hosted by the Asset Sales and Bankruptcy Litigation Committees This panel will discuss the most cautionary of tales in the asset sales realm, most notably Neiman Marcus (collusion), and regulatory and ownership issues that arise in asset sales that can lead to litigation.

Sponsored by Business Reorganization Committee Over the past decade, companies burdened with significant asbestos and other tort liability have utilized the so-called “Texas Two-Step” strategy to separate those tort liabilities from core assets and resolve them through the chapter 11 bankruptcy process. The “Texas Two-Step” involves a “divisional merger” permitted under the Texas Business Organizations Code and has garnered renewed national attention when it was used by Johnson & Johnson last month as the means to address tort liability arising from its talc products. Please join us for a webinar where our esteemed panelists will provide an overview of the Texas Two-Step, including key rulings, as well as important features and considerations in large tort bankruptcy cases generally, and discuss their reactions to and predictions for the J&J bankruptcy cases.

Hosted by ABI's Real Estate Committee Join this panel of subchapter V trustees and attorneys counseling debtors and creditors as they review the basic tenets of the subchapter V legislation, including revisions made to the CARES Act of 2020, with a focus on real estate-based cases. Topics for discussion include unique issues in play, common types of real estate cases being filed, success stories, debtor watchouts, and misconceptions about the role of subchapter V trustees.

The Small Business Reorganization Act has been in force for over a year, and trustees, debtors, creditors and attorneys have spent the last year trying to work through what subchapter V means for them. This panel will discuss the case law that has developed, as well as the benefits and constraints of subchapter V on debtors and creditors. The panelists, featuring a trustee, judge, and debtors’ and creditors’ attorneys, will also discuss the implications of representing related entities and insiders, as well as navigating uncertainties in the new law.

As America’s largest grocer, Kroger knew it had a great responsibility to act from the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a half-million employees and millions of customers coming through its doors each day, Kroger established a COVID-19 task force so that it could react swiftly to ensure the safety of its associates and customers. As businesses across the country were forced to close their doors temporarily — and in many cases indefinitely — it became imperative that Kroger find a way to keep its doors open. Don't miss this fascinating keynote discussion on how Kroger adapted its strategy to the unique circumstances each new day presented, from instituting PPE requirements to testing and vaccination sites, and the data it used to guide its decisions along the way.

Sponsored by the Unsecured Trade Creditors Committee Independent directors are taking on larger and more frequent roles in complex commercial cases. What role do official committees have in these cases, where special committees have often been appointed prepetition to consider and authorize transactions, or may be tasked post-petition with investigating transactions authorized before their appointment? This webinar will explore how the roles and incentives of independent directors/special committees differ from those of official committees; analyze the hurdles each type of entity faces when investigating and raising challenges to company transactions; and consider how each serves the estate—and whether there is room for cooperation.

Three cases in the last year have demonstrated that § 363 does not fix everything. In Dean Foods, § 363 did not protect the purchaser from the Sherman Antitrust Act; the purchaser was forced to divest itself of purchased assets in a U.S. DOJ antitrust action. In GNC, CFIUS interposed (unsuccessfully) to try to prevent the sale of assets to a Chinese company owned by the PRC government. Finally, in Exide, CERCLA rendered four contaminated properties unsalable, resulting in abandonment (arguably in contravention of the SCOTUS Midlantic decision, appeal pending). This panel will discuss these issues and more.

In the past year, ending June 30, 2021, there have been 6,871 number of chapter 11 filings nationwide, and only 149 of them were of health care companies. Is there still distress in the industry, or did the U.S.’s stimulus funding correct the distress?

This plenary will present two exciting debates on timely circuit split topics. Judges will be paired with emerging regional leaders to face off over key bankruptcy issues. Resolved: The automatic stay terminates automatically after a repeat filing only to property of the debtor, and not to estate property. Resolved: A “makewhole” provision may be enforced against a debtor and is not disallowed as “unmatured interest” pursuant to Bankruptcy Code § 502(b)(2).